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How does a local hamburger restaurant become the most popular restaurant on earth? Franchising, of course. But there is one subtle, yet critically important step in the process of franchising that can decide whether a franchise explodes into the popular consciousness or is simply left behind: the drafting of your franchise agreement and FDD’s.

To some, these papers might seem like a legal burden. But in reality, the more engaging these documents are, the more likely it is that your franchise will prosper. That’s certainly the feeling of franchise lawyer and blogger Charles N. Internicola, who has written extensively on the subject of franchise agreements.

In a recent post on his New York Franchise Law blog, Charles urges business owners considering expansion to view the FDD and franchise agreement as “a collaborative process focused on the development of a critical “asset” that uniquely reflects, identifies and protects the components of your business…franchise and franchise system.”

When starting a franchise keep in mind that all agreements are not the same and and that your input will be critical to insuring that your agreements and disclosure documensts reflect the unique nature of your business. This is no easy task and is not one that is not simply delegated - an in-depth working relationship with your franchise lawyer is required.

This is valuable advice for anyone expanding into franchising. Stick with Charles’ blog for more insight on the particulars of franchise law.

When you are a franchisee, you are not at the bottom of the corporate food chain. Far from it. You are the eyes and ears of your business, responsible for instituting the innovations that will drive the franchise forward.

This is not just corporate cheerleading. These are established lessons. Consider the story of Subway franchisee Stuart Frankel, which was recently featured in Business Week magazine. You wouldn’t expect a man who owns two South Florida franchises to institute one of the biggest eating crazes in America, but Stuart had a big idea.

He’s the guy, who realizing that business slowed substantially on the weekends, cut a dollar off the foot-long sub at his restaurants. He tells Business Week it’s because he likes round numbers. Whatever the reason, you can now buy a $5 foot-long sub in every town and city in America these days. It has generated $3.8billion for the company. For this genius innovation, Subway has to thank not its armies of market researchers nor its well-paid corporate executives, but a franchisee at a grassroots level who sensed a new niche for his business and had the courage and inventiveness to satisfy it.

“The whole thing took on a life of its own,” Jeff Moody, CEO of Subway’s franchise-owned advertising arm, the Subway Franchisee Advertising Fund Trust, told Business Week.

Business Week’s story is quite insightful as to how franchisees can bring about huge profits for a franchisor – sometimes in the face of skepticism from the franchise itself. It’s essential reading for any franchisee looking to make a greater difference in their franchise organization.

It is easier than ever to develop your franchise into a top global business, thanks to Franchise Direct. The Atlanta-based, world-leading franchise portal recently compiled its rankings of the Top 100 Global Franchises. After a number of insightful follow-up interviews with ranked franchisors, Franchise Direct can now shed some light on what takes to grow a business into a top global franchise.

As recent reporting in the Wall Street Journal shows, international development is now a profitable course for many franchises seeking new markets, as economies around the world have been somewhat slower to introduce the franchising model than the US. With its inaugural rankings of the Top 100 Global Franchises, Franchise Direct not only listed the best-performing global franchises, but it provided a blueprint to other franchises eyeing similar growth.

Interviews with franchisors with businesses on the Top 100 list showed that there is no one path to successful international expansion. Selling a master license is a common strategy, but by no means the only route, as Coffee News USA discovered.

“In those countries that are doing well, we will leave them alone. If we take back countries we will run them from here for awhile and then sell them once we have someone who can do Coffee News well there,” said Bill Buckley of Coffee News USA.

Other companies like PakMail have tailored a business model that can be easily reshaped into different foreign economies.

“We are open to further international expansion and prefer to establish master licensees outside of the U.S. The Pak Mail operating concept is pretty easy to adapt to foreign markets as evidenced by the success of our franchises in Mexico,” says PakMail’s Sandy Lasky.

There will be many cultural roadblocks for the franchisor to overcome when opening in a foreign market. “Knowing the culture, language and business processes, as well as ensuring successful product distribution,” are some of the problems that PuroClean encountered when it launched its Canadian operation. However, it found a solution that changed the way it did business in the country.

“By having a native Canadian manager running operations in Canada, PuroClean has been able to overcome typical obstacles faced when entering a foreign market,” said PuroClean’s Natalie Zupo.

Launching a franchise on a global level takes time and patience. But the rewards can be limitless, as the success of Franchise Direct’s Top 100 Franchises has shown.

No generation in American history is quite as celebrated as the Baby Boomers. They might not have changed the world like they promised in 1969, but by being the first generation to grow up with pop culture, it seemed like they would never get old. But, lo and behold, this year, Baby Boomers find themselves on the verge of the golden years. The question that many people exploring business opportunities are considering right now is this: how can I best service this huge demographic?

Anyone launching a business will want to be targeting a very defined market. But why not pitch that tent as large as possible? That is the argument of Susan Ward, who outlined ten possible areas to succeed with business via the baby boomer sector.

Some proposals are not surprising and have been proposed before on this blog. For instance, health and senior care franchises are only going to get more popular, given America’s rapidly-aging population and the recent rumpus over health care. Equally, fitness franchises stand to do well, as elderly people will need to preserve their health.

One of the most interesting suggestions comes in targeting the pet sector. According to Ward, baby boomers have elevated pets to near-human levels.

Baby boomer pets eat, sleep and do things with their people. They watch TV, they get dressed up, they have their own friends and their own doctors. They are a multi-million dollar industry!

It makes sense, too. Their children have grown up long ago, and pets fill that void. All in all, it’s a demographic that every entrepreneur needs to consider. There are many opportunities to take advantage of with this sector.

We’ve seen a lot of interesting knock-on’s for the franchising sector in the wake of the recession. The business landscape has changed so completely, but few could predict the number of opportunities that would open up for select franchise industries. Education franchises are noting mixed results.

In this case, we are specifically referring to test prep businesses. Empirical evidence states that students are staying in college longer and more people are seeking extra degrees, either to reskill themselves, take a break from the recession, or both. Given this reality, one assumes test prep franchises will be noting decent growth, as these tests gain importance.

An interesting story from the Reno Gazette-Journal says yes and no. While a traditional company like Huntington Test Center has seen a dip in numbers attending its course, PowerScore, an online teaching resource, has watched its profits rise.

“We’re seeing a lot of enrollment on classes that are on the less expensive end,” PowerScore CEO Dave Killoran said. “Through the first half of the year our SAT prep enrollment was up about 38 percent over the same period last year. ACT enrollment has been up in the range of 20 percent this year.”

The moral for entrepreneurs considering this educational franchise sector is this: people need this service more and more, but they are very limited with what they can pay. Try to find a franchise that blends affordability with quality and you should have a top business opportunity.